Buckinghamshire County Council has had further success in its desire to discourage and, ideally, put a stop to fly tipping in the county.
In December, a High Wycombe man was ordered to pay £2,334 for failing to take reasonable measures to prevent fly tipping.
Helder Manuel Cabral Cardoso, 42, of St Georges Close, High Wycombe, was convicted at Wycombe Magistrates Court on 18th December after pleading guilty to two offences of failing in his duty of care, following two fly tipping incidents in Gerrards Cross.
The court heard that on February 18 and 27, 2013, an enforcement officer from South Bucks District Council found household waste had been dumped in St Huberts Road, Gerrrads Cross. The waste included wood, tarpaulin, plastic bags and magazines. On each occasion, correspondence within the waste was traced back to a house in High Wycombe where Mr Cardoso had been working.
Enforcement officers from Buckinghamshire County Council subsequently interviewed Mr Cardoso at a police station. He stated that on two separate unknown dates while being employed by the owner of the house in High Wycombe, he had transferred waste to unknown persons. He admitted that on both occasions he had not taken reasonable measures to prevent a fly tipping offence occurring. In this respect, he had failed in his duty of care on the two separate dates in question.
The magistrates fined him £300 for the first offence and £450 for the second offence. They ordered him to pay £1,539 in prosecution costs, plus a £45 victim surcharge – a total to pay of £2,334.
The case was investigated and prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council working on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire. The Waste Partnership launched the "Illegal Dumping Costs" campaign in November 2003 to combat illegal dumping and waste management offences in Buckinghamshire. Since that date the Partnership has secured 398 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences. This has resulted in a significant saving to the Buckinghamshire tax payer over the period, principally through reducing removal and disposal costs.
If a person sees anyone dumping waste illegally in Buckinghamshire, they can report it on the illegal dumping reporting hotline on 0845 330 1856.
